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Danielle Smith’s Bill 18 is as cynical and nefarious as it gets

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    Danielle Smith’s Bill 18 is as cynical and nefarious as it gets

    opinion

    Danielle Smith’s Bill 18 is as cynical and nefarious as it gets



    [URL=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/gary-mason/]Gary Mason[/URL]


    Gary Mason ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/gary-mason/)National[/url] affairs columnist
    Published Yesterday

    Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to reporters on the sidelines of the Canada Strong and Free Network event in Ottawa, on April 12.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press

    Alberta Premier Danielle Smith must awaken each morning and think: what fresh havoc can I wreak today?

    What’s remarkable is that she continues to get away with just about every crazy idea that pops into her head. There is virtually no one holding her accountable. She is a right-wing ideologue on the loose, free to indulge her libertarian, Justin Trudeau-despising whims as she wishes.

    She gets away with it largely because conservative politicians in Alberta have trained the populace to despise Ottawa, too, or at least “liberal” Ottawa. Alberta premiers have often secured their position by bashing Liberal leadership in our capital as often as they can, sowing distrust in our federal institutions along the way.

    Ms. Smith’s latest effort to do this is Bill 18 ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-smith-touts-proposed-law-limiting-access-to-federal-funds-calling-it/[/url]), the Provincial Priorities Act. The law would prevent provincial entities such as municipalities, school boards and universities from entering into funding agreements directly with the federal government – that is, unless they are approved by the United Conservative Party government.

    The red tape this law will create is almost unimaginable. All in the name of sticking it to the Trudeau Liberals. But this is the UCP government’s overriding mantra – its raison d’être.

    It matters not that this new law flies in the face of some of Ms. Smith ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/danielle-smith/)’s[/url] previously publicly stated positions. A couple of years ago, for instance, she was on a podcast talking about sovereignty. “We should have our municipal levels of government be able to be sovereign in the decisions that they make that are within their municipal boundaries,” she said at the time. But this new law is precisely the opposite of that.

    What it’s intended to do is block municipalities from signing direct funding deals with Ottawa around areas such as housing. The last thing Ms. Smith wants is the federal Liberals getting any credit in Alberta for doing something good, even if it fills a desperate need like housing. She will have none of it.

    But the bill is even more nefarious than that.

    Through it, Ms. Smith, and her soulmates in government, will now vet any research funding universities receive from the federal government for ideological bias. She doesn’t care that these grants are administered through impartial, third-party committees made up of academics and others. What matters is the impression the law is intended to leave: that the UCP government has its elbows up and is using them to keep Ottawa out of the province.

    Ms. Smith doesn’t care who or what her ideological pursuits hurt or destroy along the way.

    This bill is arguably the most dangerous piece of legislation that the UCP has yet tabled. On CBC’s Power and Politics, Ms. Smith defended Bill 18, telling host David Cochrane that the federal Liberals were only funding ([url]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-bill-requiring-provincial-approval-of-federal-funding-risks-political-meddling-academics-say-1.7171488[/url]) “certain types of opinions, certain types of researchers and I don’t think that’s fair.”

    And what was the basis for her charge of political bias? “I have heard enough from some of our academics about how difficult it can be to access some of that funding,” she said. Note: one academic she has championed is Dr. Jordan Peterson, who will fill anyone’s ear with his suspicions about research funding.

    Dr. Peterson once had a grant application turned down, he claimed, on the basis of his opposition to gender-neutral pronouns and the modern notion of gender as fluid.

    In defending her bill, Ms. Smith told Mr. Cochrane that the legislation was aimed at establishing a “balance” on university campuses, where there would be “just as many conservative commentators as we have liberal commentators out of journalism schools, see just as many conservative-minded journalists graduate as progressive-minded journalists.”

    So, this is her real target? Journalism schools?

    Note to the Premier: these aren’t governed by grants from the federal government. Students apply and their resumes are adjudicated by staff in the school’s journalism department. Most if not all journalism schools in Canada train students to be reporters, not commentators. (Although there are courses offered on opinion writing, to be sure.)


    Most commentators I know distinguished themselves as reporters first, before earning the privilege of being an opinion writer.

    Is Ms. Smith suggesting that journalism schools in Alberta start vetting prospective entrants on the basis of their political beliefs? Because it sure sounds like that’s what she’s proposing in order to have a more “balanced discussion in the broader public sphere.”

    Ms. Smith’s fixation with liberal media bias is perplexing, especially given that she rules a province governed for decades by conservative governments (save for the recent four-year reign of the NDP).

    Who knows where this latest bit of Danielle Smith whackery will lead. But people should know it’s credibly the most dangerous legislative gambit she’s made yet.

    #2
    More proof Danny Smith and the other loonies have taken over the asylum! To Quote Jason Kenney!

    What other nutbar ideas does this pretend libertarian freak have?

    Comment


      #3
      The funny thing is that reporters like Gary Mason think that their reporting is unbiased, which of course it is not!!!

      Comment


        #4
        Its labelled as Opinion Hamloc!

        And everyone else knows it except you? Try to pay attention!

        Comment


          #5
          Yup, your right it is an opinion piece. So yes a left wing opinion piece from a Canadian journalist(his bio says “Canadian Journalist”), hmmm maybe Premier Smith is on to something!!????

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by chuckChuck View Post
            More proof Danny Smith and the other loonies have taken over the asylum! To Quote Jason Kenney!

            What other nutbar ideas does this pretend libertarian freak have?
            When Kenney was in power you went on and on about how goofy he was.

            Now you quote him like he is a credible source.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by LEP View Post

              When Kenney was in power you went on and on about how goofy he was.

              Now you quote him like he is a credible source.
              Funny how times change. Yes, Chuck2 used to attack Kenney just as frequently as he now attacks Premier Smith????.

              Comment


                #8
                First it's proof then it's opinion.
                Witch is it Chuck?
                Premiers pushing back is all we have left.
                This is one member of the populace that isn't trained.

                Comment


                  #9
                  We all have "opinions", just as worthy as lefties. We cancel out.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Chuck, dont you live in sask?

                    I live in alberta and i gotta say... what does it affect you?
                    shoulDnt you be more worried about what goes on in sask?

                    Not gonna lie. I could care less what happens over there. Good people. Good place.. doesnt affect me one bit whether they ban gays
                    .god.. or anything in between.

                    shouldnt you be more worried about something like the... uhhh.... govt in.. sask?

                    How does anything that happens over here affect anything in your day to day.. month to month.. life?
                    is smith blocking you from getting puberty blocking medications?

                    Whats the deal man? Do you hate women in power?
                    ( i dont like danielle.smith but it has nothing to do with her being a woman)

                    Help me.. help you.. which in turn.. will help all of us...

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by goalieguy847 View Post
                      Chuck, dont you live in sask?

                      I live in alberta and i gotta say... what does it affect you?
                      shoulDnt you be more worried about what goes on in sask?

                      Not gonna lie. I could care less what happens over there. Good people. Good place.. doesnt affect me one bit whether they ban gays
                      .god.. or anything in between.

                      shouldnt you be more worried about something like the... uhhh.... govt in.. sask?

                      How does anything that happens over here affect anything in your day to day.. month to month.. life?
                      is smith blocking you from getting puberty blocking medications?

                      Whats the deal man? Do you hate women in power?
                      ( i dont like danielle.smith but it has nothing to do with her being a woman)

                      Help me.. help you.. which in turn.. will help all of us...
                      Well said .
                      it’s a sick obsession for chuck
                      hopefully he can find mental help at some point

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Go Danny, keep those rats outta Alberta. Trudeau has stuck his nose into every country that would let him near. Now no countries want anything to do with him. Alberta doesn’t either - for good reason.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Uggh not trying to add more fuel to this constantly raging fire ...

                          But true story, my friend was pulled over just driving his motorbike out of the garage and around the block to warm up the oil to change it. He had no helmet on. This was in a town just outside of Edmonton 3... days ago. He said, im sihk ( he is definitely not) and i left my turban in the garage. The rcmp, if you can believe it, let him go because he couldnt prove he wasnt! Also, he was about 100 metres from his house. Sihks can wear a turban on a motorbike here in alberta.

                          So... how do they currently assess/ will they assess halal mortgages and who is eligible to receive them?
                          this is a verrryyyyy strange thing to want to include in a budget ( even if its just a proposal and purely symbolic)

                          All of me would want this.
                          4000$/ ac land @ 5% paid out over 20 yrs?
                          may as well pencil in 7800$/ ac in actual cost.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Now that Hamloc has figured out it's an opinion piece.......we can make some progress.

                            The sewage from the Alberta UCP runs down hill and eventually Curly Moe rolls in it!

                            Kenney was right when he said the "looneys are taking over the asylum" He was talking about Smith and the TBA.

                            They don't like imposing ideology unless its theirs! Then, they don't mind more red tape and big government.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Can you define ideology?

                              I don't think that word means what you think it means.

                              Comment

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